Decent soccer fields should be a priority

Monday

May 26, 2014 at 2:46 PMMay 26, 2014 at 2:57 PM

By Clive McFarlane TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Worcester soccer community will be watching closely to see how much of the $6.7 million the city manager has earmarked for parks, playgrounds and playing fields will be spent creating and maintaining decent soccer fields in the city.

Fueled in large part by the growing presence of immigrants from soccer-playing nations, the beautiful game has fast become one of the most popular sports in the city.

The annual Worcester World Cup, which was started years ago to further dialogue and collaborative community projects among the immigrant population and which last year drew about 2,500 spectators to Foley Stadium, is a showcase of the game's growth.

Yet, while acknowledging the popularity of the sport, the city, according to Kevin Ksen, one of the WWC organizers, has given only lip service to players' and organizers' pleas for more and better-equipped soccer fields.

According to the city's website, there are supposedly about 11 fields in the city on which soccer can be played, but most are without goal posts. Some are mostly used for other sports most of the year, while others cannot be used for soccer because they are filed with stones and other debris.

"The parks department's soccer field initiative is to provide a rectangular patch of ground with some grass and no goal posts and call it a soccer field," Mr. Ksen said.

"Last year, as a starting point, we pushed them to give us five fields with goal posts. They promised they would, but they never did."

Charles Allison, president of the Liberian Association of Worcester and a soccer enthusiast, went before the City Council Youth, Parks and Recreation Committee two years ago to demand the "same privileges that basketball, baseball and football have."

He was told that there are a lot of sports competing for playing fields in the city, but that putting in a field that can be used for soccer is part of the city parks master plan.

Very little has happened since, according to Mr. Allison, who said soccer teams in the city have been forced to rent fields in Auburn to play league games. He said he hopes soccer is the top priority in the city's earmarked expenditures on playing fields.

"They have made a lot of promises that they haven't kept," he said.

"At the end of the day, we just want one or two places that we can go and play soccer."

City Councilor Phil Palmieri said he hopes it becomes a higher priority than it is today.

"There is no question that soccer is a critically important sport for a whole host of people throughout the city," he said.

"The parks department has been working on a plan to create multipurpose fields, and now that we have a new public works commissioner in place, I hope we can put together a plan that offers better field facilities for soccer players."

City Manager Edward Augustus said he understands the frustration of the soccer community and that his capital budget seeks to address some of their concerns, including completing design and future renovations for a soccer field on Providence Street and building a full-size soccer field at Greenwood Park. The city is also applying for a $400,000 state grant to renovate the Providence Street park.

These are all welcome overtures, but the city's commitment to soccer will be measured by how it follows up on its promises, and so far its response has been nil.